An effective sales strategy is critical to any company's success. Before developing a sales strategy, there are fundamental conditions that must be met in order to be successful. These include having a well-defined strategy and integrated marketing approach established. Once these conditions are in place, companies can build a world-class sales organization by implementing a comprehensive account management and opportunity management program, supported by best practices.
Account Management
The first step in account management is to organize accounts into tiers with the greatest focus and attention paid to the most promising accounts. These accounts should then be assigned an account team comprised of experts in their field to begin the process of researching all facets of the prospects focusing on specific company and market needs and potential opportunities. From these findings, the account team should develop an action plan that clearly and systematically identifies problem areas and challenges that need to be addressed, and provide tangible solutions for how to solve those issues. The account team should perform regular account reviews in order to measure performance and to reprioritize accounts into tiers as needed.
Opportunity Management
The account management team may identify a variety of issues or needs. However, these needs only become opportunities when the customer decides that the issue must be solved and that an action must be taken. The focus of opportunity management should be on proactively progressing the customer through the buying cycle. The account management team needs to identify key decision makers and engage with them to uncover and continually explore their needs and challenges. An effective opportunity management approach involves presenting a variety of options that solves the identified need. The account management team should work with the customer to explore the pros and cons of each option and to clearly articulate how their solution best meets the client's needs. Effective opportunity management is consultative in nature, helping the customer find the best solution to solve its problems.
Best Practices
In order to build a world-class sales organization, there are several best practices that should be put into place in order for your account management team to excel. This team should work seamlessly with marketing, business development and other departments, and efforts should be focused in the following areas:
- Group Sales Management
- Developing a professional, effective recruitment program
- Compensating appropriately to reward the "right" behavior
- Developing a comprehensive and ongoing training program for support staff
- Performance tools
- Creating a comprehensive set of collateral that is consistent with the brand and overall messaging
- Presentations
- Brochures
- Website
- Providing mobile communication
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